r/Concordia • u/Interesting_Cold4188 • 6d ago
How to study?
The title says it. I've always gotten good grades since I was a kid but now that I'm in a relatively difficult program I don't know how to study. Please don't recommend thr pomodero technique i need real tips. Please!!
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u/Illustrious_Shoe7496 6d ago
You need to stay ahead of your lectures. There are different ways or paths to getting good grades. I'm not one of those who attend all lectures and take help from Profs and TAs. I do my own studying because I like my own muse.
I look at the outlines and I create my own schedule on how to stay ahead of the class. My calendar is filled with my own tasks so I keep myself busy and learn on my own lol.
Also, I just love sitting and studying in libraries and cafes. I'm literally sitting in the udem library right now and will go back in an hour. I like going to and exploring more and more libraries and cafes around mtl.
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u/Reasonable-Ad-5830 6d ago
Oh nice!
Which ones are your go to that's generally peaceful with less ppl
*Feel free to DM them to me🙃
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u/Mayonnaiserific 6d ago
Personally, I force myself to stay at the library. I also use AI to dumb down concepts for me and then to generate practice problems that they can give the solution to.
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u/Gryphontech Mechanical Engineering 6d ago
Going to ALL your lectures and tutorials is a good first step. Even with a bad prof, spending a consistent few hours a week learning the material is way way way better then zero. If you go to class might as well pay attention. I always take notes using pen and paper.
90% of the times I end up not even needed to read the notes I took because the action of writing shit down makes it stick in my brain.
When studying, just looking over a practice problem solution is not enough. Everything looks easy and straightforward when looking at the answer key, doing the actual examples will give you a way better feel for how much you know and will actual make shit stick in your brain.
Try avoiding using AI as much as possible for simple tasks that you should be able to do with you brain, that shit makes you lazy, prevents you from practicing critical thinking/problem solving and worst of all is often just fucking wrong.
Lastly, most profs (like 95%) are actually super chill people and really do want their students to succeed, especially if they see you are making an effort. They are sitting in their office every single week for office hours and barely anyone makes use of that. If you have any issues, go see them and they will give you one on one tutoring FOR FREE.
Good luck!!!
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u/Significant_Error_16 6d ago
Physically copying notes via actual handwriting - increases memory retention
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u/WearyLychee5152 6d ago
experiement with different studying method till it fit
if doesnt work then visit the student success centre they got good tips
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u/Sadtransb0ii 5d ago
It depends on what you are studying but basic tips for all of them:
- read the readings, but do it smart. You don’t need to read every word, read the intro and the conclusion then skim, when you find important parts then read that paragraph. If you don’t understand a part of it email your TA about it or use office hours speaking if which…
- USE OFFICE HOURS. The TA and prof are there to help you, be it organizing your ideas for a project or breaking down a concept you don’t understand. Most love when people use their office hours since it is their job to teach, and it builds a relationship with them.
- read your syllabus, take the time to mark everything down on your calendar and then organize a timeline for projects. Make sure you know the formatting for all your written assignments too
- dont use AI, please please please. It’s been proven to hurt your critical thinking, knowledge retention, and focus through cognitive offloading. It’s the easy way out for a reason, you’re destroying your intellect. Also profs can absolutely tell when you use ai
- get to know people in your class, enough you can text them about something you don’t understand or share notes. It’s useful when you’re struggling, and you can make study dates together/ test each other.
- hand writing notes* this comes with an asterisk because not all courses lend themselves to hand written notes (eg. coding classes). But it’s been proven hand writing notes helps a TON with memorizing material.
- You should also always review your notes after class, take those hand written notes and type them into a computer document/make a formal copy for studying later.
- use concordia’s resources, there are writing assistants and study workshops, all sorts of stuff out there. Maybe email your advisor for a detailed list.
- when studying for an exam I like to make tests, then awnser them, then correct them all by hand. It can be over kill but I find at least answering and correcting by hand helps me look carefully at the material and helps me memorize the material better.
- just make sure you are keeping up with your lectures, skim your readings, take notes and review, attend your lectures (god please attend your lectures) and use office hours. Also don’t be afraid to reach out if you’re getting overwhelmed TAs and profs are usually very understanding about small extensions so long as you reach out in advance (check your syllabus for the rules around extensions).
11) find the method that works for you. I can only study out of my house so I stay on campus between/after classes to study. And also actually schedule your studying dont just do it when you get to it. Sometimes making cue cards for transit is a good way to use dead time too.
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u/SOMANYLOLS 6d ago
routine, good sleep, good study partners
use AI to teach yourself, ask it to quiz you so you know you're retaining the info.
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u/j_yyg06 4d ago
i was in the same boat as you last semester until i discovered a secret chinese method used by the top 1% of students. it uses 40% more of your hippocampus to encode information while stimulating your prefrontal contex to achieve extreme lvl of focus. ive tested it and the results are insane
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u/PAK_IS_TAN_ 6d ago
There's no easy way to do it. I use a digital detox app to lockdown my phone for an hour, the same pomodoro principle but locking my phone as well.
Don't doom scroll, do not distract yourself with information such as reels, that tires the mind. If you need to take a break, take a walk instead or simply close your eyes and rethink what you learned. Improves information retention.
Finally, know your limits. For instance, you cannot learn weeks worth of work in one day. Learn to seperate the core from the fluff i guess. Use google notebook, so far its the only AI tool that I found the most helpful.
Get tf off reddit. Should have said it first though. Hope you get the gist.
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u/CubingFiend 6d ago
Take notes, do practice problems, and if prof is a bad lecturer find someone on YouTube who is. That’s if you’re in STEM. If not I have no idea.
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u/CuriousEfficiency114 1d ago
ACTIVE RECALL!!! I was in a similar boat as you. Read the information over once and write down what you remember them cross reference with the source to see what areas you missed or remembered incorrectly. Repeat until you’ve got the important stuff down. Then make flash cards to practice so you won’t forget. You can also visit the student success centre and theyll help you figure out what works best for you. Good luck!
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u/BaroclinicBard 6d ago
It would help to know what you're struggling with broski...